Don't wait to write; write and then wait.

So your Vancouver realtor friend pulls up in her newest luxury-mobile. Shiny.

Figuring it couldn't hurt, you ask her for real estate advice. And she trots out this old gem: "Don't wait to buy land. Buy land and wait."

Which, if the Internet is to be trusted, is a saying first trotted out by that most quintessential of Americans, Will Rogers. Not only was he a Hollywood film star, but a cowboy as well. That's him up there, multitasking like you would expect a cowboy poet to.

Then again, he was also half Cherokee, so shoehorn that into your Ronald Reagan stereotype if you can....

Anyway, along with being able to play both sides in a black and white Western moving picture, Rogers was a writer and a rare master of the aphorism. You could do worse than to cogitate on some of his more pithy gems.

And thus back to his famous, "Don't wait, wait" thing.

Because if you've got the deep wisdom and empty pockets of a writer -- rather than the shiny glamour and punishing car payments of the Vancouver realtor -- good ol' Will's got your back on this waiting thing.

His maxim, after all, describes one of the most potent, but painless, peashooters of any writing cowboy: time.

What's the easiest way to improve your writing?

Do nothing. At least for a while.

You see, when you write that press release or product description, you give it your best. I know you do, because I know nobody ever sat down and said, "Okay, I'm gonna write me some crap. Let's do this!"

Sprinkling the keyboard with the sweat of your brow, you write that essay or blog post. Done. But you know it's not really done; you know every first draft needs some edit. Editation. Editing. Yet you just put your best into those 478 words, so your devious little mind tells you it's pretty darn good; like, Pulitzer Prize good. As a result, you overlook the questionable word choices; you miss the misplaced modifiers, the repetition and the inane drivel masquerading as coherence -- oh, wait: that's my first draft. Sorry.

Anyway, Will Rogers might have said, "Writers can't wear the audience's hats." Except he would have said it with some flair.

However he would have said it, it's one of the most powerful strategies a writer has: write a first draft and then don't edit it.

Write and then wait.

Put it away and avoid the temptation to peek. One hour is marginally sufficient; a day is better; a week is a first-class ticket to the success train.

Let time turn you into the audience. I promise you'll see your writing with new eyes, new ideas, and no small measure of embarrassment as you glance over your shoulder furtively and whisper, "Did I write that? What the hell was I thinking!?"

And that's when you do your revisions.

It's really that simple: to be a better writer, write -- and then wait.